I Am Not There, I Do Not Sleep
by The Irish Cullen
Summary: Every year he visits them where they rest, and this year is no different except for the fact that he is a new man. Inspired by 'Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep' and 'Nature's Bloom'  Breaking Dawn Spoilers


**This story is inspired by these two poems, I hope you enjoy it.**

**Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep – Anonymous.**

_Do not stand at my grave and weep  
>I am not there. I do not sleep.<br>I am a thousand winds that blow.  
>I am the diamond glints on snow.<br>I am the sunlight on ripened grain.  
>I am the gentle autumn rain.<br>When you awaken in the morning's hush  
>I am the swift uplifting rush<br>Of quiet birds in circled flight.  
>I am the soft stars that shine at night.<br>Do not stand at my grave and cry;  
>I am not there. I did not die. <em>

**Nature's Bloom – Kayla Elisabeth**

_We are the flowers  
>We bloom each day<br>Holding our heads up high  
>But flowers someday, go away.<em>

_We are the trees  
>Our feet planted on the ground<br>Our branches spread open  
>But trees someday, get cut down<em>

_We are everything  
>Lavish but imperfect<br>Each day we take a breath  
>We take a breath because we are worth it.<em>

The young man walked into the old graveyard, the rusty gate protesting as he pushed through it. No one had been here in years. Why would they need to come? Not many people remembered the people who lay under the earth in this cemetery.

Every year the young man came to this place on a significant date.

Ironically the young man was not young at all.

He was a man of the immortal world.

A son of the night as it were

He never ate, never slept, never aged and only drank the blood of other creatures to sustain his own half life.

He had a full half life though, in the recent years he had met a wonderful woman and she had set his world on fire in an electrifying way. He once told her that and she rolled her eyes she didn't see herself clearly. He had finally gotten her to agree to marry him and through what he could only describe as a miracle they conceived their wonderful daughter. After her birth the young man had brought his wife into the immortal life so they could be a family for the rest of time, something he never could even imagine would happen to him.

But on this day every year he separated himself from his world and went back in time. He walked towards the back of the graveyard and stop at the large grave in front of him.

Three scarcely marked grave.

Two contained bodies and one did not.

It was unnerving to think there was a spot designated for him when he died but he shrugged it off and stood in between the graves of the two people he was really here to see.

"Hi" He said standing at the foot of the graves mark _Edward Masen Snr. and Elisabeth Masen _"It's me, Edward."

You make ask who else it would be but still Edward felt the need to tell his mother and father it was he in their presence.

"Happy Birthday Father" He said "One hundred and thirty years old today" He said "That's some number. I've got some news for you both." He began wanting to tell them how his world had changed so rapidly since his last trip. "Remember that girl I told you all about? Bella? She married me. I don't know why she felt giving up her life just to be with me but I am so happy she did. She's blessed me with a new outlook on life and given me a gift I thought I would never be lucky enough to have. She's made me a father." He said.

He could imagine their reactions to him making this announcement. Tears of joy from his mother and a tender clap on the shoulder from his father.

"A little girl, Renesmee." He said "I know the name isn't the most conventional but she is so unique that she deserves a name that no one will ever think to copy. Generic names such as Jenifer or Linda would never do for my beautiful daughter. How could she be anything but beautiful? Her mother is the embodiment of beauty; her name is a proclamation of it. My beautiful girls Isabella and Renesmee, they've made me a better man. A man you would both be proud to call your son."

He said looking down at his hands and seeing his wedding band on his left hand. He was never one for wearing jewellery but he adored the band his wife had given him on their wedding day.

"You both gave me the name Edward, it means _Blessed Guardian._ I hope you two are the ones blessing me from above if there is such thing so that I can be the best guardian to my wife and daughter. They are so precious to me I do not know what I would do if I failed them. I was already faced with the reality that I had failed them when news broke of my daughter's birth. My adoptive family is not liked in our community by some and they tried to take it all from me. Bella was so scared, but stayed strong for our daughter." He said with a sigh. "I know you two had a hand in saving me, you always knew when I was in over my head and in that moment, standing across from the men ready to kill me, my wife and my child, my reasons for being, I felt you both there."

She watched him as he stood talking to no one.

Her new acute vision told her no one else was here with them. She knew that the moment she entered the graveyard he knew she was there. She didn't approach him though; she stood back and let him have his time. This was his moment and had she known what this was she wouldn't have come. But she had been worry about him.

Since they had defeated the Volturi there hadn't been a sad day in the Cullen household, but Bella's husband had been acting differently in the past week before announcing his sudden trip. It wasn't that she didn't trust him. Bella trusted Edward with her being, she just had a feeling something was bothering him and wanted to find out what.

Now that she was here she knew what it was.

And she felt like she was intruding in a private moment.

"Bella" He whispered as he turned and saw her there.

"I'm sorry; I'll wait for you back at your hotel." She said.

"Don't... don't go." He said "I want you to... to stay." He added, this was the first time he had shared this with anybody. No one knew his parents were buried here. Not even Carlisle, Alice probably had an idea but Edward didn't feed that idea at all so it was mainly speculation.

"Okay" She said as she walked towards him. When she was beside him, he linked his hand into hers and brought their joined hands to his lips and placed a kiss on them. "So this is where they are?" she asked and he nodded. "You could have told me."

"I'm not used to sharing" He said pressing his lips to her temple. "I've been doing this since 1928 every year by myself, and old habits die hard." He explained.

"What's today?" she asked.

"His birthday" He told her.

"Do you think they would have liked me?" she asked idly.

"My mother would have liked Jessica Stanley if she thought there was any hope in me staying at home and not going to fight." He chuckled.

"You know what I mean" She said.

"I have a feeling they would have loved you Love, my mother was very much ahead of her time and your spit fire personality would be a quality she'd find endearing." He explained. "And father? He would have appreciated how you turned me into a real man."

"You make it sound like I put you through boot camp." She said with a smirk.

"No but you changed me and by marrying me and gifted me with that little girl. Made me become a man and step up. Provide and care for my family." He told her. "Although my mother probably would have been livid with your name choice for our daughter." He added and Bella pushed playfully on his chest.

"You could have vetoed" She teased.

"No I couldn't have" He told her.

"Okay but I like to think I at least gave you a chance to have a say." She explained. Her eye was then caught by the grave next to her father in laws. She looked at it her eyes widened, before taking herself from his embrace and walking towards the head stone. "What is this?" she asked.

"I needed to make it look like I had died." He said as she brushed the moss of her husband's grave stone.

"Edward Masen 1910 – 1918 '_Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there, I did not die._" She read aloud before turning to face him. "I recognise that line."

"I thought it was fitting so I had it inscribed a few years ago." He said. "I prefer the one of mother's grave stone though."

Bella moved over to the next one and moved the moss away.

"We are the trees, Our feet planted on the ground, Our branches spread open, But trees someday, get cut down" She read and looked at her husband.

"My mother was a beautiful woman, she had a kind nature this poem describes that even the most beautiful things can be torn apart." Edward explained to his wife.

"Does your Father have a poem?" she asked and Edward shook his head.

"It's a quote by Amelia Burr 'Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.'" He explained.

"Do you think people will ever become suspicious over these poems and quotes being from different times?" she asked him.

"There's a reason they're in the back of an abandoned graveyard." He said and she nodded standing up. "Where's Renesmee?"

"I left her with Esme and Carlisle, the others are all gone hunting." She explained.

"Let's go home" He said.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for longer?" she asked.

"No" He said.

"Okay" She said before turning to his father's grave stone and placing her hand on it "Happy Birthday Mr. Masen, it was wonderful meeting you and your wife." She whispered before taking hold of Edward's hand again. He kissed her cheek before they walked out of the graveyard.

"I want to bring Renesmee next year" He said "But I'm worried how she'll react seeing my grave stone."

"Renesmee knows about your human life and I think she's smart enough to understand the concept behind you having a grave stone." She said.

As they walked from the graveyard the line ran through Edward's head again.

_Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there I did not die._

It was right, he did not die and as he continued to come here every year and visit them neither did his parents.

Comforted by that thought Edward brought his wife home and they continued their lives together. Following the message Edward felt his father would carry if he were alive today. Spend today loving life so that should their time come to an end they would have no sorrow to die.

**THE END**

**Okay do that wasn't the fluffiest one shot I've ever written and I know its short but I've always wanted to write it.**

**Read and Review.**

**Love The Irish Cullen.**


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